With the Piaggio MP3, the T-Rex, the Bombardier Can-Am Spyder and more three wheelers inevitably on the way, state laws will have to work to keep up, figuring out how they want to classify them for licensing and registration. Delaware now has a law pending that will require operators of these vehicles to have a motorcycle endorsement which takes away the guesswork, at least in that state. Up until now, a regular driver’s license was all that was needed to legally drive any of these.
With the Piaggio, you are riding a vehicle very similar to a regular scooter but with the T-Rex, for instance, you’re sitting inside like a car and other than being powered by a motorcycle engine, it has little similarity to any two wheeler. Unless each vehicle is going to be classified by the department of motor vehicles separately, a law classifying 3 wheelers one way or the other is necessary so everyone knows where they stand. I’m guessing these will be classified as motorcycles for licensing more often than not wherever no law is presently in place.
Link: Delaware Online
todd says
Laws like those have usually come up against strong opposition from police departments and other municipalities that utilize 3-wheeled utility vehicles. They don’t want to have to make all of their “meter maids” apply for a motorcycle license – and wear a helmet. In California the the CA V.C. skated around the issue by adding a clause that suggests 3-wheeler meter reader vehicles were not motorcycles.
-todd
chris says
here’s a simple idea: if it leans, it’s a motorcycle. if it doesn’t it’s a car. in my opinion that is the most important factor that requires the respective skills of each license.
P.T. Anderson says
In my state, Washington, I don’t know for sure if the meter maids have motorcycle endorsements or not but their three wheeled vehicles have motorcycle plates on them… In my view it would be hard to classify a vehicle whether it leans or not. Just ask any owner of a motorcycle with a sidecar whether he/ she is a rider or just a driver. I’m betting that it that bit about the existing sidecars that would prevent them from calling anything with three wheels a car. I know the issue has been kicked around by the FIA when they consider official land speed records. Last I heard, and this was a while ago, if it has three wheels or two it is a motorcycle. The issue should be interesting because one of the other issues that hasn’t been mentioned is how a three wheeler of any kind should or shouldn’t be allowed in the carpool lanes like motorcycles are in my state. I’m interested to see how it goes because I like the idea of getting a Carver, http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2007/02/01/carver-tilting-3-wheeler-video-from-top-gear/ ,someday. Some might argue the it leans and other might point out that some of it doesn’t lean. So what is it?
Matthew says
>if it leans, it’s a motorcycle. if it doesn’t it’s a car.
What about a sidecar then? It’s neither and Washington State (correctly) requires a special endorsement to operate one. Trikes and especially sidecar rigs behave very differently than both motorcycles and cars. With a sidecar a right turn is a dramatically different experience from a left turn. Not knowing how to operate one can get you killed very easily and thus requires special training. You can know how to operate a bike but that gives you now clue how to ride a side hack. (hint: you don’t counter-steer)
One thing that I’ve been wondering is will you be required to wear a helmet in something like the Carver? it’s fully enclosed and therefore a helmet could do more harm than good in a crash.
Diesel says
In Pennsylvania, a 3 wheeler is considered a motorcycle and requires a cycle endorsement (license).
Jim says
Some of these three wheelers are definately motorcycles, but a growing number use three wheels as a way of circumventing automobile safety requirements.
Chris is right if it leans it’s a MC. To answer Matthew’s concern, a sidecar is an outrigger added to a MC, remove the car and you have a bike again. Granted other modifications would make it a lousy one.
Whether a three wheeler is a bike or a car shouldn’t be determined at the time of registration but by the manufacturers filings with the US DOT.
CaptJohn says
In California if it has 3 wheels, you don’t need an M1 to operate it. A posting earlier was correct–that exemption was written especially for law enforcement. Of course, that law went on the books when the police were still riding Harley 45ci “ServiCars”, and law enforcement wanted to utilize all their personnel, as needed, on those machines without the vicarious liability of their officers riding “out of classification” and having a traffic accident. Hence, in California, the 3 wheel exemption remains in force.
With the demise of the “ServiCar” and the advent of Can-Am’s higher performance trike, the Piaggio MP3, etc; it’s just a matter of time before big brother changes the Vehicle Code in California.
Joe Test says
Let us say that A is a California resident, has a Class C (car) drivers license, and lawfully registers and insures a new Harley Tri Glide. He drives it in California absent a motorcycle license, because the state doesn’t require one.
Then he drives the cycle across the country, and he drives into State X, where trikes are motorcycles and require a motorcycle license, can he legally drive his trike there since he is legally licensed in his home state, or would he need the California motorcycle license to be legal in states that classify a trike as a motorcycle when he is away from California on the trike??
Joe